EBME Forums Forums Free discussion Free discussion CPAP SERVICING

Hi guys. Hope all are well. Could i ask what the procedures are for CPAP servicing . Historically, we have commisioned them up, tested them and out a 5 year sticker on them. Resmed say they have a 6 year life at 12 hours per day and then they should dispose of them. Our cardio-resp department are telling us that resmed have said they do not need testing and can be issued straight from dept out of the box. If this is the case, they have suggested that they do not need to come via MES or be added to the register. Any comments greatly received, thanks in advance

At another Trust we would simply perform a visual inspection and EST. Its a class 2 device so low risk in a lot of ways. If you want to performance test them then chances are your walk in clinic will get annoyed as you'll need to run them over a period of time and the patient will have to sit and wait longer than normal. Get the reps version in writing, check the manual recommendation and create the PPM. You'll need them on a register for warranty and financial reasons as part of a hospital inventory at the least. Also good for when they recall the devices or issue field safety notice and you need to cross reference serial numbers. The recent Philips/Respronics recall and removal of their ventilator/CPAP products is a great example for this.

Hospital (Trust) equipment Policies shall over-rule any "local" policies (the "cardio-resp" department in this case).

As mentioned on an earlier thread, kit like this should be given the "once over" (inspection for damage, at least) by a tech every time it appears on site ("walk-in clinic" or whatever). Also, both staff and patients must be encouraged (prevailed upon) to report faults. After all, the kit does not belong to them (neither the patients or the staff).

In my opinion, not having everything on the database (register) sounds like the slippery slope to negligence. What's it to be next ... what other equipment is to be disregarded in this way ... where do we draw the line?

As Dustcap mentions, all items of powered medical equipment should appear on the PM schedule, even if the inspection interval is "every five years" (I would max-out at one year, myself).

And yes, when (and wherever) "difficulties" are encountered, get those resisting to set down their objections in writing.

In passing, I have always advocated that all items belonging to each Hospital should be accounted for; biomed kit on the CMMS database, Estates stuff on whatever system they use (remember WIMS, anyone?) ... and all other property (chairs, et al) under Property Control.

Agree with Geoff that CPAPs should be registered on your EMS. There should also be records of the patient to whom the device is allocated (held by the clinical users in my opinion). As to a ppm schedule, we have a very large fleet of them and find that they don’t last much longer than 5 years in any case so as they’re a class 2 device we don’t have them on any ppm schedule but just replace them when required.

Who maintains the database ... the nurses (those running the walk-in clinic)? How do they deal with "losses" (theft) and (or) wilful damage?

Would I be right in guessing that they just "issue" (give away, in actual fact) a new one?

" .... but just replace them when required". How does that work? Someone must inspect them, surely? Do the nurses just make a declaration (or even produce a bag of broken bits)? And where do the replacements come from? Does someone there keep a stock of new machines? Who hold the budget?

Perhaps I should add:- who actually owns the machines?